Well, it’s taken me a bit longer to finish my 50 Book Project than I planned but I keep plugging away! Although I’ve made hundreds of books over the past couple of years, many of them are exactly the same. I really want to finish this project of making 50 different books to push myself […]
You might have noticed that I’m a huge fan of Keith Smith’s decorative bindings. Here are two more I tried recently as part of my 50 Book Project. Both are small pocket sized books 3.5″ x 5″ with leather covers and wrappers, and handmade paper signatures. The first is a Barber Pole pattern with four signatures and […]
Here’s book number 33 in my 50 Book Project: a 3-signature binding with a continuous diamond pattern. This is another binding from Keith Smith’s book, 1,2 & 3 Section Sewings. The cover is a rustic tangerine leather and the inner pages are hand torn white handmade paper. Each signature is wrapped in a piece of botanical […]
I created several leather artist journals this weekend using some leather that I purchased from Pergamena last December. I paired it with some of my white and botanical handmade paper and make a four signature journal. I punched the holes in the red leather with a Japanese hole punch and a 1/8″ bit, and used a […]
I’ve been intrigued by miniature books for a while, so I made some miniature leather journals to sell during Open Studios this holiday season. I know some people love creating miniatures, but I don’t think I fall into that group. They were fun to make but too fiddly for my taste and probably not something […]
Here’s a quick look at book number 26 in my 50 Book Project. It’s a small leather bound journal with a tire tracks binding. I found this binding in Keith Smith’s 1,2 & 3 Section Sewings (page 220-21) but modified it to hold 4 signatures and 4 lines of stitching instead of the original 2. I […]
I have another book from my 50 Book Challenge to share today – it’s a leather journal with a cross stitched spine. I think this is one of my favorites so far. I’m really loving making leather books with decorative stitching on the spine. The binding was inspired by the 3 signature bindings in […]
A couple of weeks ago my friend Jane came to the studio and made a special book. She had a decades old, well loved pocket book of her mothers that, despite many repairs, could no longer be used. So she asked if I would help her turn it into a journal. Here’s a photo of […]
Lately, I’ve been creating an inventory of leather journals for my Fall and Holiday open studios. This one’s a new design and number 23 in the 50 Book Project, my one-year project to create 50 unique bindings. The rustic calf leather book measures 5″ x 7″ with 48 Mohawk Superfine pages and is bound with a 4-ply waxed […]
I met up with a friend and fellow bookbinder, Suzette Durso, last weekend and she showed me some of the beautiful leather journals she’s been creating. One included some cross stitching and I was inspired to add some to the cover flap of this long-stitch book. The binding is a form of long stitch with […]